The present invention relates to handling of oil-containing media, primarily water, associated with industrial operations in manner as allows safe, economical separation of the oil from the water so that the oil easily can be disposed of or recycled without presenting hazard of oil entry into a sewage or waste system to which water separated from oil is discharged.
Certain industrial operating systems produce condensate which in many cases is discarded, as by discharge to a municipal sewage operation or a septic system. If the condensate contains a lubricant such as oil, that component represents a pollutant which, could for example, leech into fresh water wells or have other adverse consequence for the environment.
The danger presented by possible discard of an oil-containing condensate into a sewage system or into the ground has led to enactment by local governments of laws and/or regulations governing disposal of oil and oil-containing water. For example, condensate from an air compressor system must either be separated mechanically with centrifuges and like devices, or the condensate must be collected in its entirety and carted off to authorized disposal activities.
Where discharge is to ground or a sewage system, local regulations may set a standard as to what oil content can be present in the water. Such could, for example, be presence of not more than 20 p.p.m. oil.
In large industrial operations, it is practical to install and employ mechanical separation in which oil is effectively separated from condensate, and the water remaining which is essentially oil-contamination free, can be discharged to a sewer or septic system. In many industrial operations, the size of such and a condensate production rate may not justify the large investment involved for a separation equipment installation. Commonly then, and to adhere to the applicable locality requirements for disposal, the condensate must be collected as such, stored in prescribed containers and the containers taken to a collection station or operation where separation will be effected.
This last-mentioned handling of condensate presents the producer with expense to store and dispose of the condensate as well as obliging the on-premise establishment of a storage area. Since condensate produced, for example, in air compressor operations is comprised of only about 2% oil, the remaining 98% being water (there also can be air presence in the condensate), the producer is faced with the need to handle and store a large bulk of water that eventually will be discharged to sewage but only after the condensate is delivered to a collection depot, and the condensate freed of any oil presence therein at least down to a required level.
It is desirable, therefore, that a simplified, generally inexpensive yet highly effective means for and manner of separating oil from a condensate be provided for employment by industrial and commercial operations where use of traditional, high cost separation systems is not practical or economically feasible.